1. Field of the Invention
The present invention, concerning with an operation management of communication network comprising a plurality of devices, relates to a fault management apparatus and method for identifying a cause of fault in the case that a failure has occurred in the communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
In keeping pace with a propagation of Internet, the problems of network faults are spreading in proportion with a magnification, complication and multi-functionalization in Internet data centers (IDCs), diverse service providers (xSP), intra-enterprise networks, et cetera. In such fault occurrences, it is vital for a network manager to be enabled for identifying an affected range and occurrence point of a fault (e.g., on which layer of which device) quickly so that he or she can identify the cause of the failure and perform the restoration.
What is known for the conventional fault monitoring system is the one for checking an availability and state of two-point communication by using a ping (Packet Internet Groper), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), etcetera. Also proposed is an apparatus for displaying information so as to make an affected range of fault occurring in a network easily comprehensible (e.g., refer to Patent Document 1 noted below). Patent Document 1: Japanese patent application publication No. 2004-222105
In the above noted conventional fault monitoring system, however, even if the fact of fault in a two-point communication is known, a cause in which layer of which device cannot be identified. This will require the network manager to identify the device or line where the fault is occurring eventually based on his experience and know-how, ending up with a failure to identify an affected range or occurrence point of the fault correctly, or a period of time to consume before it is identified.